Read it.

Washington, D.C., police arrested a man with at least 200 explosives in a tent outside the Red Mass held annually to mark the beginning of the Supreme Court’s term.

Louis Geri, 41, was in possession of bottle rockets and Molotov cocktails when he was arrested on the steps of St. Matthew’s Cathedral on Sunday, the Washington Post reported.

Geri, from Vineland, New Jersey, faces eight charges, including manufacture or possession of a weapon of mass destruction in furtherance of a hate crime.

Read it.

The case of Fatima Qurban-Ali, a 30-year-old Canadian sentenced recently in New Zealand for attempting to import nearly 10 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine on a flight from Vancouver — coerced at gunpoint by a transnational drug syndicate, the court heard — has illuminated a troubling global pattern.

Across a series of recent prosecutions, New Zealand Customs records and sentencing reports show that Canada — particularly Vancouver’s port and airport — has become a major node in the production and shipment of synthetic narcotics by networks supplied through China-based syndicates and Mexican cartels.

Qurban-Ali, an immigrant from Afghanistan whose brother worked as a translator for U.S. and New Zealand forces, arrived in Auckland from Vancouver on December 8, 2024, carrying a red duffel bag filled with packages wrapped in festive paper. Inside, Customs officers found 9.9 kilograms of methamphetamine with an 80 percent purity — a haul valued at roughly NZ$2.9 million.

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It is a truth universally acknowledged, yet whispered only in enlightened places, that the first-past-the-post British political system is a machine designed with one grim weakness: to periodically vomit into power a last-man-standing government of Muggles. Not the whimsical, wand-waving kind, but a far more desolate breed: the Labour Muggle. This unsightly creature is not born, but unexpectedly elected. Its natural habitat is the seat left festering after a Conservative collapse, its sustenance the diktats of trade union focus groups fed fat on biscuits, and its highest ambition the serene, managed administration of national decline.

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A private Catholic university in Washington, D.C., plans to hold a “full-day” campus-wide “remembrance” event Tuesday in honor of a woman who fled to Cuba after murdering a New Jersey state trooper.

It was reported recently that Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, had died in Cuba, according to her daughter and the Cuban government.

Chesimard was a Black liberation activist given political asylum in Cuba after her 1979 escape from a U.S. prison where she had been serving a life sentence. She had been living in exile since 1984.

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Iris Stalzer, who a mere weeks ago became the mayor of Herdecke in North Rhine-Westphalia and is a center-left Social Democrat, sustained multiple stab wounds and is reported to be fighting for her life after being airlifted to the hospital.

Emergency responders discovered her alive but in a life-threatening condition, after one or more attackers tried to kill her, after which she was still conscious enough to crawl inside of her home. German sources report she was “attacked in front of her residence around midday and managed to drag herself inside before collapsing.”

Within hours after the attack, there is still no suspect or known motive for the attack, which could be deemed an assassination attempt of an elected official. It’s also unclear if there was a political motive.

New York Post.

A Latin Kings gangbanger allegedly put a bounty hit out on Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino – firing off a Snapchat message that read, “10k if u take him down.”

Juan Espinoza Martinez, a 37-year-old Mexican living in the US illegally, was nabbed Monday in Burr Ridge, a Chicago suburb, after the feds were tipped off to the alleged murder-for-hire plot, authorities said.

In the Snapchat conversation, the ranking street gang member included a photo of Bovino and placed a $2,000 bounty for his capture, according to a criminal complaint.

Trump will not let this ride.

Read it.

While progressives might hail the arrival of the first woman Archbishop of Canterbury in the form of Sarah Mullally, a more orthodox part of the church, primarily in Africa and Asia, is raising alarm over the appointment, saying she “cannot provide leadership to the Anglican Communion.”

The Anglican church risks losing tens of millions of members after the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Gafcon), an organization that represents a majority of the 85 million Anglicans worldwide, stated in a letter on their website that the appointment of Mullally “abandons Anglicans, as the Church of England has chosen a leader who will further divide an already split Communion.”

The Gafcon letter says the failure of successive Archbishops of Canterbury to “guard the faith” means the office can no longer be seen as a credible leader of Anglicans.

Not only is Mullally a woman—something that to a majority of Anglicans is as unthinkable as it would be for Catholics to choose a woman pope—she is also a self-described feminist who has made her way to the top of the church hierarchy while campaigning for the ordination of women. She is also an outspoken supporter of abortion and voted in favor of introducing blessings of homosexual relationships in the Church of England.

Gafcon points out that Mullalley has failed to uphold her consecration vows, which included a commitment to “banish and drive away all strange and erroneous doctrine contrary to God’s Word.”

Read it.

The Spanish National Police has announced the arrest of 12 people in Vic for orchestrating fraudulent partnerships between Spaniards and illegal immigrants, part of a growing Europe-wide problem involving forged documents, sham marriages, and black markets for residency permits.

According to police, the network operating from the Catalonian town specialized in manufacturing fake family links to secure residence permits reserved for relatives of EU citizens.

As reported by 20 Minutos, the investigation began in November 2024, when authorities noticed a cluster of suspicious applications. In each case, the foreign applicant was living illegally in Spain and claimed to be in a stable partnership with a Spanish citizen. All applicants listed the same address on Rambla del Passeig, which investigators discovered was in fact a café.

The fraud unraveled when police found that the couples had not registered with the official Registry of Stable Partnerships and instead submitted forged documents to immigration officials. Among the arrested is the alleged mastermind who arranged the sham marriages, provided the fake paperwork, and advised clients on how to present their applications.

The Times (UK).

London risks becoming a “childless city”, school leaders warn, as pupil numbers plunge and families leave the capital amid soaring costs, Brexit and falling birth rates.

Family homes are being replaced by new-build apartments while parents determined to stay in London and other cities say they are “clinging on” because of careers, convenience and culture.

Dave Woods, head of a primary school in west London, said the issue dominates conversations among head teachers in the capital, adding: “It’s a phrase that is talked about in meetings … about London becoming a childless city.”

Read it.

An elementary school in Kansas has raised a novel question under the First Amendment: whether the freedom of speech includes the right to use the word “freedom.” According to some media reports, Arbor Creek Elementary Principal Melissa Snell stopped the wearing of shirts reading “Freedom,” which have become popular after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The move is clearly a violation under the First Amendment, in my view.

Libs of TikTok posted an email exchange between Arbor Creek Elementary Principal Melissa Snell and an (unnamed) individual in which Snell confirmed the ban. The email stated: “I just want to make sure that you have told your staff to not wear those ‘Freedom’ shirts to school anymore. Thank you.”

Snell allegedly responded: “Yes, I have. Was there someone in particular that you are referring to? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Read it.

When the Special Military Operation began in early 2022, during the 8th year of fighting in Ukraine, the new aspect of the conflict was cast strictly in terms of Democracy vs. Autocracy; valiant Ukraine holding back the onslaught of Russian tyranny; or the defense of Western democratic values against dark barbarism from the East; or the Rules-Based International Order against the forces of Chaos, etc. etc. No one talks that way today, unless it is Kalla Kallas, or the Lithuanian prime minister, Keith Kellogg, or cringingly recently by King Charles III. I suppose Anthony Blinken would, if he had access to a microphone. But he doesn’t.

The problem is, of course, that liberal democracy did not turn out to be the Fukuyamaian End of History that it was purported to be. (In February 2022, before my current views had quite solidified, I distinctly remember thinking, however, “Oh, History is back.”) The decline of democracy, so-stated, is most pronounced where its horn is tooted the most: Europe. Orwell predicted rightly, all political animals are equal, but some political animals are more equal than others. Don’t ask questions in Romania. Or Moldova. Running as an AfD candidate in Germany can get you fitted for a coffin in no time flat. And don’t even get me started on the U.K., where the governing elites are certifiably insane, and whose Prime Minister I’ve recently heard characterized as Tony Blair’s sock-puppet.

Real political expression can often seem more vibrant in the vilified countries–Russia, Hungary, Slovakia–though it may not translate to real political options. But no matter, dissent is decidedly not welcome in the European Parliament. Just ask Georgia what happens when you try to chart an independent course, based on your own country’s national interest. And of course, there is that bastion of freedom itself, Ukraine, where, if you are a man under 60 years of age, you don’t dare emerge from your flat, even if wheelchair-bound.

Read it.

Cartels have doxxed and put bounties of the heads of several federal immigration officials – offering $10,000 to kill or $2,000 to capture them, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed on Sunday. She did not specify whether the bounties applied to a particular agency such as ICE, or the US Border Patrol.

The Foundry.

Gangs, cartels, and known terrorist organizations have put bounties on the heads of specific Immigration Customs Enforcement agents and border patrol officers, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed Sunday morning.

“It’s about $2,000 to kidnap them and $10,000 to kill them,” Noem explained on “Fox & Friends.” “They’ve released their pictures and sent them between their networks.”

These gangs, cartels, and known terrorist organizations are “being extremely effective” and they want to take these agents down because they “are keeping them from making money off their criminal networks.”

The New Neo.

If you want to kill a SCOTUS justice, and get close enough to be charged with attempting to kill or kidnap a SCOTUS justice and have to plead guilty, it’s worth your while (if you’re a man, that is) to claim to be a woman.

That’s what would-be SCOTUS assassin Nicholas Roske did. To refresh your memory, he was the man (yes, man) who was arrested in 2022 outside of Justice Kavanaugh’s house by federal marshals who were there guarding it.

This was after the Dobbs draft had been leaked, but before the official decision was handed down. Roske’s goal was to kill three of the conservative justices on the Court, allowing Biden or Biden’s autopen to nominate leftist justices in their place and therefore change the course of SCOTUS history and decisions. You might call his plan an insurrection of sorts, and he did more than just write about it or talk about it. He did turn himself in, but apparently only because those marshals were there.

Read it.

A visiting professor at Harvard Law School has been placed on administrative leave after his arrest in connection with an incident outside a Brookline synagogue on the eve of Yom Kippur, officials said.

Carlos Portugal Gouvea, who also teaches at the University of São Paulo Law School, was charged with illegally discharging a pellet gun, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and vandalizing property, according to public court records.

Brookline police responded Wednesday evening to reports of shots fired outside Temple Beth Zion, a synagogue in Brookline, as Yom Kippur — the holiest day in the Jewish calendar — was beginning. More than a dozen officers were dispatched, according to Brookline.News, which first reported the incident.

Read it.

Russian planes recently flew into Polish and Romanian airspace to test NATO’s resolve while the world veers toward a conflict in Asia—one that could be far worse than the situation in Ukraine—where true deterrence and resolve remain largely absent.

On Sept. 3, Beijing staged a military extravaganza to parade a full suite of fearsome weapons. Many journalists were awed, and some defeatist experts advocated Chamberlainian appeasement. Others, mostly China observers, tried decoding the seating plan of senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials atop Tiananmen Square for clues about the power struggles in Zhongnanhai.

However, what is often overlooked in the discussion about the event is that it represents the financing and support mechanisms behind a new type of quasi-world war. The ongoing Russia–Ukraine war is one example, and the potential invasion of Taiwan by the Chinese regime is another. Let’s explore this further.

The Xinhua images of the Sept. 3 event, featuring Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un consorting in solidarity, should be interpreted as a calculated response to the new tripartite model the West has devised for militarily supporting Ukraine. That model conveys that Kyiv identifies its military hardware needs, European allies provide the financing, and the United States produces and delivers the hardware.

The Beijing event showcased a parallel model: Moscow requests war materiel, including troops, China and North Korea supply them in exchange for cheap Russian energy, with India and a few other countries dipping in. Thus, even though the war’s actual fighting is confined within Ukraine and Russia, its financing involves a much wider array of adversarial states. The coalitional symmetry in this financing mechanism can prolong the bloody conflict indefinitely, which Russia and Ukraine, if left to their own devices, cannot achieve.

Read it.

U.S. Border Patrol personnel shot an armed woman in Chicago on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said, as scores of protesters faced off against federal immigration agents on the city’s southwest side.

No law enforcement officers were seriously injured in the incident in which a group that included the woman rammed cars into vehicles used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.

The woman, a U.S. citizen who was not identified, drove herself to the hospital, according to the statement. No additional information was immediately available about the woman’s condition. ICE agents fired pepper spray and loaded rubber bullets as part of heated exchanges with protesters on Saturday.

NARRATIVE MEDIA: Border Patrol agents shoot woman in Chicago as protesters confront immigration personnel (Jim Vondruska/Reuters)

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Walk through downtown San Francisco or Los Angeles and you’ll navigate a shifting obstacle course of tents, human waste, and unstable individuals. Business districts that once thrived now see foot traffic evaporate as customers avoid entire blocks. Parents can’t take children to public parks. Elderly residents can’t use their own sidewalks. The social contract that public spaces belong to everyone has collapsed.

Between 2015 and 2022, Los Angeles County’s homeless population surged by 56% while Houston’s fell by 32%. Today, California houses 28% of America’s homeless population with just 12% of its residents. San Francisco’s homelessness rate is nearly 20 times higher than Houston’s.

California has spent over $27 billion on homelessness in recent years. The difference is systems architecture. Houston and Dallas built something that works. California built something that doesn’t, then spent billions pretending otherwise.

This matters because instability breeds instability. When encampments persist for years, residents and business owners face constant uncertainty. When sweeps just move people two blocks over, when every neighborhood waits to see if it will host the next relocated camp, the crisis simply shifts location without resolution.

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Mullally, 63, was confirmed on Friday following approval from King Charles III, who is the supreme governor of the Church of England. A former chief nursing officer for England, Mullally was ordained in 2002 and rose quickly through the hierarchy, becoming Bishop of London in 2018.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior cleric in the Church of England and functions as a figurehead for the Anglican churches worldwide. The decision to appoint a woman is likely to deepen existing rifts within the Anglican Communion, particularly with provinces in Africa and Asia that have strongly opposed female bishops and liberal reforms.

So much for the ‘Anglican Union’.

Read it.

North Carolina’s largest police union has requested federal law enforcement assistance, including National Guard deployment to Charlotte, citing what it described as escalating violence and a staffing crisis.

In a letter Thursday, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 9, told city leaders: “The request is due to the ongoing failure of city and police leadership to address the severe staffing crisis within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, which we believe has led to a violence crisis in Charlotte.”

Although North Carolina law prohibits public-employee collective bargaining, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police functions as the primary representative body for officers and is often referred to as a police union.

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A combination of ideology, social media, mental health disorders, and medication may be influencing recent trends in violence and radicalization among those who identify as transgender, according to experts.

“My general feeling is that we’re seeing more of it … not for any one factor, but because of several factors all convening, and they’re all amplified by the political rhetoric,” said C. Alan Hopewell, a Fort Worth neuropsychologist.

When people struggling with their sexual identity are prescribed hormones to change their bodies, it impacts the way they think, he told The Epoch Times.?

Hopewell said that combining hormones, medication, and intense online pressure can create a dangerous situation.

Read it.

California is home to numerous profitable industries, but many of the state’s residents struggle to survive under the weight of big government. Case in point: excessive regulations have suffocated the state’s housing market and led to some of the nation’s highest rents and most expensive homes.

In contrast, metro areas in the South, particularly in Texas, are leading in the construction of new apartment buildings this year. Austin hosted nearly double the number of new units as Los Angeles, which is larger tin both geographic and population size. One of the reasons for the South’s housing boom is its less-restrictive regulatory environment. According to Doug Ressler, a senior analyst and manager of business at Yardi Matrix, a real estate data firm, “Southern metros typically offer streamlined approval processes and fewer regulatory hurdles, making it easier to bring multi-family projects to market.” Notably, Texas lawmakers further relaxed the state’s land zoning laws earlier this year to allow for more housing construction.

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One of the two victims who died in the synagogue attack in Manchester, UK was shot dead by police, with the other victim killed by suspect. In fact, the police were the only ones with guns at the incident.

Here’s what happened: The suspect, Jihad al-Shamie, rammed a vehicle into a crowd of people gathered outside the synagogue, striking several individuals. He then exited the car and stabbed at least one person before attempting to enter the building. Worshippers and security staff managed to block his entry – when armed cops showed up within 7 minutes and shot al-Shamie.

Al-Shamie killed one of the victims and sent two to the hospital with injuries, while the cops accidentally killed another victim and shot a 3rd person who was also sent to the hospital. sd

You can’t make this stuff up.

Better Homes & Gardens.

A garbage disposal is an electronic device fitted to the underside of a kitchen sink. It uses blades to grind food waste into pieces small enough to be carried away in the plumbing system. It is a clean, fast, eco-friendly way to get rid of your kitchen waste, as food goes into the water system and not a landfill.

While things like vegetables, fruit, cooked foods, and even ice can go down a garbage disposal without problems, other things can clog your plumbing or damage the blades. This can be costly to have repaired, so it’s in your best interest to know how to properly use one. To ensure the long life of your garbage disposal, avoid putting these items down the drain.

Looking at this list, one wonders whether a garbage disposal is worth having at all.

Read it.

A sticker featuring a target over a photo of Alternative for Germany (AfD) party co-leader, Alice Weidel, is allegedly being distributed by the Left Party Youth in Hannover, Germany. The sticker, which also features the text, “Aim Here,” has sparked an investigation by the German police.

“This sticker is being distributed by the youth organization of the Left in Hannover. This is not just a call to violence, this is an incitement to attack in the spirit of the left-terrorist Antifa. The radical Left should finally have the plug pulled. Criminal complaint is being filed!” wrote Thorsten Weiß, the deputy chairman of the AfD parliamentary group in Berlin.

The Left only objects to political violence when they are the targets.

Hochul alleges DHS cut $187M from counterterrorism funding with ‘no discretion’ (Brady Knox/Washington Examiner)

Judge Blocks Trump Plan to Pull NYC Transit Funds

Trump Cuts Funding to 16 Blue States That Didn’t Vote for Him (Malcolm Ferguson/New Republic)  I suggest that the fact that they are Blue States is more significant than the fact that they might not have voted for him.

Trump administration uses government websites and email messages to pin the shutdown on Democrats (NBC News)  As Democrats always did with Republicans. They act as if this were a New And Strange Thing.

Why Trump’s 2020 election loss lives on in the Georgia governor’s race (Patrick Svitek/Washington Post)

We asked 1,000 Americans who they blame for the shutdown (Washington Post)  It’s never about the shutdown–it’s always about the blame game.

White House Uses Shutdown to Maximize Pain and Punish Political Foes (Tony Romm/New York Times)  As every Democrat administration has done in the past.

Google joins presidential bribe club (Liz Dye/Public Notice)

Head of Eisenhower library resigns after sword spat with Trump administration (Ed O’Keefe/CBS News)

Trump’s ICE Has Started Targeting Activists, Not Just Immigrants (Mike Ludwig/Truthout)  What a great idea! Deport Antifa!

Stephen Miller Implies He Intended for Trump’s Nutjobs to Kill Democrats (emptywheel)

Trump Finds a New Way to Use the White House for Tacky Racist Trolling (Tom Latchem/The Daily Beast)

Trump Quietly Grants Defense Guarantee To Autocracy That Gave Him A Luxury Jet (S.V. Date/HuffPost)

Late Night Shows Receive Their Shutdown Talking Points

More Americans blame Trump, Republicans for shutdown than Democrats: Survey (Tara Suter/The Hill)

Public Trust in News Media Drops to Another New Low in Gallup Poll (Even Among Dems!)

Google News Shifts Blame for Gov’t Shutdown

Trump’s ‘Shoot the Hostage’ Shutdown Strategy (Andrew Egger/The Bulwark)

‘NATO for nonprofits’: Groups organize to band together if targeted by Trump (Peter Nicholas/NBC News)

Trump’s Flood of Emergency Appeals Is Straining the Judicial System (Lydia Wheeler/Wall Street Journal)  Much like all the bogus suits against Trump.

No Matter Who Controls What, the Media Will Blame the GOP if the Government Shuts Down

Read it.

Ian Roberts, the Iowa superintendent who was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement last Friday after fleeing from a traffic stop and ditching his district-issued vehicle (in which a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a hunting knife was recovered) – completely lied about his bona fides.

He’s also lost his superintendent’s license, while the DOJ launched an investigation hours after ICE detained him. The 54-year-old native of Guyana entered the United States on a student visa in 1999, overstayed, lied on a form claiming he was eligible to work when he was hired in 2023, and now faces deportation.

According to the Des Moines Register, Roberts never obtained a doctoral degree from Maryland university – something which would have been easy to verify during the vetting process. Roberts has “long stated that he received a doctoral degree from Morgan State University in Baltimore. But a university spokesperson told the Des Moines Register on Monday that Roberts did not obtain a degree from the school, despite attending Morgan State from the fall of 2002 through the spring of 2007.”

He attempted to obtain a doctorate in urban educational leadership. Despite his failure, Roberts has claimed on multiple occasions to have “completed” the degree at Morgan State, including in a 2009 self-published book.

Jonathan Turley.

Rose Docherty is what they call a criminal recidivist in the United Kingdom. The 75-year-old woman has been arrested for a second time for the same fiendish act: offering to speak to women considering an abortion. She was arrested outside the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for carrying a placard which stated “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.” Fortunately, she and her sign were quickly seized by the local police to protect the public.

Free speech literally does not have a prayer in the United Kingdom. We previously discussed the case of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, who was arrested for standing near an abortion clinic while silently praying. Police asked what she was doing standing at the location and when she said that she was praying in her head, they arrested her.

How Docherty ended up in the hoosegow in Glasgow is a chilling tale of how censorship can consume a nation.

Read it.

President Trump’s address to the United Nations last week was a historic speech and a tour de force. He made the point that the United Nations is a useless talking shop, incapable even of making its escalator and teleprompter work.

He identified the twin threats to the survival of Western civilization to be the uncontrolled flood of immigration from desperate and often chronically criminal people with no interest in becoming functioning citizens of a new jurisdiction, and the drive to reduce carbon dioxide on the mistaken theory that climate change is a threat to life itself.

These waves of illegal immigration are not immigration at all but only desperate masses fleeing adversity, while sheltering substantial numbers of very violent and dangerous criminals. It is an invasion, and resembles nothing so much as the barbarians pouring into the Western Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., ahead of the more destructive and ferocious barbarians who followed them in the fifth century and completely overthrew the Western Roman Empire.

The president even revealed that the U.N. had made substantial financial contributions to subsidize illegal immigrants into the United States, who are now, at great expense and social stress, being systematically deported.

Read it.

In today’s financial system, what many people take for granted as foundational truths are actually deeply flawed assumptions or outright deceptions.

Below is a breakdown of commonly misunderstood financial concepts—reframed to reflect a more accurate interpretation of how the system really works.

Read it.

Ian Andre Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa, who was arrested by ICE late last week for illegally overstaying a 1999 student visa, has reportedly had active voter registration as a Democrat in the state of Maryland since 2012.

The story of Roberts was bad enough from the onset. Entered the country in 1999 on a student visa. Ignored a final order of removal by an immigration judge in 2024. Gaming the system to attain a full-time superintendent position, in which he earned a $270,000 annual salary. Fled ICE during a chase, where agents eventually found cash, a knife, and a loaded gun in his vehicle.

In short, an illegal alien profiting off skirting the law represents everything seedy about the failed immigration system in this country. But wait, there’s more.

According to information attained by Townhall columnist Dustin Grage, Roberts has an active voter registration status in Maryland. He has held that status as a registered Democrat (of course) since 2012, according to records.

Read it.

The universal rule for politicians is ‘leave no dollar untaxed’. Even if you follow the rules, they’ll change the rules in the middle of the game in order to put their hands into your pockets.

Sarah Hoyt.

I want you to consider — other than possible activation by mysterious behind the scenes forces, to change the national conversation, and note I’m not laughing at this, which means “ten years ago Sarah” is staring at me in horror from the back of my mind — that 2020 broke people. It broke people BADLY. I see it in my own family. I see it in my circles. And I see it in myself.

Mind you, a lot of us broke in the sense of “I’m now full blown introvert, and will just glare at people if you take me out, and spit like a cat if I’m forced to be around strangers for a full day.” But other people broke in other ways. And I doubt very much there are any of you out there, who don’t know what I’m talking about. In fact doing impromptu, small mental health adjustments has become a thing in everyone’s friendship circles.

Terms I used for my own mental health management (keeping in mind that I’m a raging depressive) have escaped and are now in the wild, seemingly everywhere “out of spoons.” “Reality testing” and of course “kicking the black dog.”

Read it.

The UK recorded its largest-ever migrant crossing on a single vessel this weekend, according to Bloomberg – piling further pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer as his Labour Party convenes for its annual conference in Liverpool.

The Home Office confirmed that a boat carrying 125 people crossed from France to England on Saturday, breaking a previous record set in August when 107 people arrived in what was dubbed a “mega-dinghy.” The surge underscores the worsening crisis despite Starmer’s vow to “smash” the smuggling networks responsible for ferrying people across the Channel.

“These small boats crossings are utterly unacceptable and the vile people-smugglers behind them are wreaking havoc on our borders,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a statement. “Protecting the UK border is my priority as home secretary and I will explore all options to restore order to our immigration system.”

The problem is that, unlike the U.S., U.K. law allows you to stay if you can reach their shores.

Read it.

Chinese gangs are taking advantage of loose marijuana rules in Oklahoma to grow and transport marijuana to other states for sale on the black market, authorities say.

Oklahoma narcotics officials told Congress $153 billion worth of marijuana is unaccounted for and likely leaving the state for the black market in other states.

As many as 85 percent of licensed grow sites have connections with Chinese owners or operators, according to Mark Woodward, information officer with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.

Since 2022, the state has shut down more than 6,000 illegal growing operations. Most U.S. states have made marijuana legally available, but taxes and regulations have pushed up its price, leaving an opening for black market sale

Trump falsely suggests FBI agents to blame for igniting Jan. 6 violence (Politico)

Trump’s war on Tylenol is also very much a war on women (Arwa Mahdawi/The Guardian)

Trump’s central role in Comey case may become key to defense strategy (Washington Post)

Poll: Public Confidence in Higher Ed Growing (Kathryn Palmer/Inside Higher Ed)  “Despite the Trump administrations ongoing attacks on colleges and universities….”

Why Donald Trump is obsessed with Portland (Politico)

On MSNBC, Sen. Murphy Claims Radicalization Unimportant, Trump Destroying Debate

Brennan: Trump Won’t Intimidate Me With Charges

Colombian president accuses Trump of violating UN principles after visa revoked (Axios)  He ought to learn to keep his mouth shut.

‘I’m not going to be intimidated by the likes of Donald Trump’: Fmr. CIA Director on being targeted (MSNBC)

Inside the Trump Administration’s Push to Prosecute James Comey (New York Times)

NPR-Ipsos poll: Americans don’t broadly support Trump’s National Guard deployments (Debbie Elliott/NPR)

MSNBC’s Willie Geist Downplays N.J. Democrat’s Naval Scandal, Turns Shame on Leakers

Donald Trump’s Disapproval Rating Among Republicans is Now in Double Digits (Kate Plummer/Newsweek) Which means 10%. The horror! The do admit that 86% approve, which is very white of them.

FBI’s Patel clarifies role of hundreds of agents on Jan 6, says Wray lied to Congress (Brie Stimson/Fox News)  My, what a surprise.

Trump’s transportation department pulls trail and bike grants it deems ‘hostile’ to cars (Jeff Mcmurray/Associated Press)  Trump just keeps on winning for regular Americans.

Trump’s shutdown plans: Mass layoffs, deregulation, military deployments (Jacob Bogage/Washington Post)

The full force of Trump’s federal job cuts is about to hit the D.C. region (Washington Post)

What the Right Really Means When It Says ‘Free Speech’ (Sarah Jones/New York Magazine)  More mind-reading by the Narrative Media.

The Race to Save America’s Democracy (Garry Kasparov/The Atlantic)

Trump’s Politicized Prosecutions May Hit a Roadblock (Adam Serwer/The Atlantic)

US set for largest mass resignation in history as Trump continues deep cuts (Michael Sainato/The Guardian)

What to know about Trump’s new pharmaceutical tariff plan (Joseph Choi/The Hill)  Don’t bother to read it, we’ll tell you what to think.

Greene, Straying From Trump, Reflects an Emerging MAGA Split (Annie Karni/New York Times)  There’s that MAGA guy again. He really gets around.

What the Trump regime doesn’t want you to know about Dallas ICE shooting (Will Bunch/The Philadelphia Inquirer)  Will Bunch loses his shit. Jennifer Rubin must be on vacation.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says he has ‘no faith’ in Trump’s judicial system after Comey indictment (Alexandra Marquez/NBC News)  Welcome to our world, Chuck.

Green Meltdown: Trump’s Second Term Breaks the Back of Climate Activism

Democrats Rage, Leftist NGO Mobilizes After ICE Arrest Of Iowa’s Top School Superintendent

The Other McCain.

People in Iowa and around the country are mystified by this situation. How did this guy get hired? And how much of his biographical information is actually true?

Read it.

Belgium will soon link refugee benefits to integration efforts as part of a broader crackdown on illegal migration and asylum abuse, Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt has confirmed.

Under the plan, recognized refugees will continue to receive full social benefits, but payments could be cut if they fail to learn the language or look for work. People with subsidiary or temporary protection—such as many Ukrainians—will start with lower payments but can earn “integration bonuses” by completing language courses or training programs.

The reform was promised in the federal coalition deal and comes alongside tougher asylum measures, including the closure of reception centres to migrants already protected elsewhere in the EU and a target of cutting migration costs by €1.6 billion by 2029. Van Bossuyt argues Belgium must stop being a “magnet” for asylum seekers and crack down on what she calls “asylum shopping.”

In July, Belgium reintroduced internal border checks on buses, flights, and major roads from France, Italy, and Greece, following similar moves in Germany and the Netherlands. The government insists the checks are needed to prevent secondary migration.

Meanwhile, Brussels is challenging Europe’s top courts after rulings blocked deportations of failed asylum seekers. Former Constitutional Court president Marc Bossuyt has accused the European Court of Human Rights and the EU’s own Court of Justice of “tying governments’ hands” and called for stricter limits on judicial intervention.

Van Bossuyt said regional governments will be responsible for integration checks, with talks already held in Wallonia and Flanders and Brussels next on the agenda.

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A gunman opened fire inside a Mormon church in Michigan during Sunday services before apparently setting the building ablaze, killing at least one person and injuring nine before police shot him, authorities said

Hundreds of people were inside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township when a 40-year-old man rammed a pickup truck through the front door, then got out of the vehicle and started shooting, Police Chief William Renye told reporters. Police believe he “deliberately” set the building on fire.

After the suspect left the church, two officers pursued him and “engaged in gunfire,” Renye said. The man was killed.

I think we can safely say that this guy was not a Republican.

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The U.S. State Department said on Sept. 26 that it would revoke Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s visa after he called on U.S. soldiers to disobey orders during his visit to New York.

“Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence,” the department stated on X.

“We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions,” it added. The department did not provide further details about the incident.

Petro traveled to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, though it is unclear whether he is still in the city.

Actions have consequences.

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More and more people are turning their backs on the European Union. With them, the states are also losing economic substance. Exit taxes are being used in an attempt to counter this.

The states of the European Union are experiencing a veritable exodus. About 1.4 million EU citizens left their home countries in 2023, among them 265,000 Germans. Among the favored destinations are, alongside Switzerland and the United States, booming regions such as Qatar or Dubai.

Unmentioned in the article is the fact that the United States is one of the worst offenders in this space. If you want to renounce your U.S. citizenship, you have to pay an ‘exit tax’ calculated on the basis of as if you had sold every U.S. asset you own.

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Sounds like an ‘insurrection’ to me….

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(a) It’s astonishing that it’s had to come to this.

(b) The EU apparatchiks are going to go ballistic.

Military.com.

Over 30 years ago, a scandal rocked the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, launching an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and uncovering evidence that more than 130 midshipmen might have cheated on an exam.

The events surrounding the 1990s cheating scandal have resurfaced decades later to embroil a former mid. The military records of Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Navy midshipman then and now a New Jersey gubernatorial candidate, were released by the National Archives in what Rep. Robert Garcia called an “illegal and likely politically motivated disclosure,” according to Politico.

Garcia, a California Democrat and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, on Thursday called for an investigation into the release that appeared to implicated Sherrill in the academy cheating debacle.

Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, told The New Jersey Globe that she was not allowed to walk with her midshipmen mates at her 1994 graduation because she “didn’t turn in some of my classmates” during the cheating scandal.

“I will  not lie,  cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do.” Sounds pretty clear to me.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a post to the social media platform X on Thursday that the leak of Sherrill’s unredacted military records was “a betrayal of everyone who’s ever worn the uniform.”

Here are five things to know about one of the biggest scandals in recent history to unfold at the Naval Academy.

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Something strange has happened with Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-Dallas).

For years, Crockett has spoken with what some described as a “ghetto accent.”

Yet in her latest MSNBC interview about the Comey indictments, her ‘ghetto’ accent appeared to revert to her normal voice.

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ikipedia had faced trouble from the Kremlin before, with Russian censors threatening it almost from the start of the Ukraine war in 2014. But it was only in late 2023, with the appearance of glitzy ads across Moscow, that a serious plan to replace it became clear. RuWiki, as the censors’ project is known, is mostly a straightforward copy of Wikipedia. But the most sensitive moments of history have been left out or rewritten. The Kremlin’s ideologues hope that millions of Russians will now embrace these new versions as the truth.

The RuWiki project might be called Orwellian, if the author were not himself occasionally censored. The entry on “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, for example, omits the regular site’s description of Winston Smith’s Ministry of Truth, where historical records are “corrected” (though Smith’s job gets a mention elsewhere). RuWiki’s rewriters hack their way through the sensitive zones of Putinist ideology: lgbt rights, oral sex, Soviet history and the war in Ukraine.

Russian atrocities in Bucha, near Kyiv, in 2022 are reimagined as a “Ukrainian and Western disinformation campaign”. Kherson, a Ukrainian city being destroyed by Russian bombs, is mentioned without a word about the war. The execution of 22,000 Polish officers at Katyn in 1940 is rewritten to cast doubt on the archive documents proving it was done by Soviet secret services. And all references to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was killed in prison in February 2024, are altered to describe him as a mere “blogger”.

Off-Guardian.

Agroecologist and environmentalist Claire Nasike Akello says that, in legal terms, the sharing and selling of indigenous seeds is a criminal offence in Kenya. In effect, Kenya’s Seed and Plant Varieties Act demolishes self-sufficiency among smallholder farmers who use indigenous seeds to grow food.

Writing on her website, she says that the legislation seeks to create a dependency on multinational companies by smallholder farmers for seeds thus giving an upper hand to these firms that continue to steal biological resources from local communities with a profit-driven mindset.